The Cape Cod and Islands Association of Realtors plans to add rental listings to its proprietary multiple listing service (MLS) in the next few months.
Joan Witter, an agent with Sotheby’s International in Osterville and president elect of the Cape Cod and Islands Association of Realtors (CCIAOR), said the group is planning to roll out the new feature "as soon as possible," and that the product will definitely be ready for the upcoming spring market.
"This will give the rental market much more exposure to the full membership," Witter told Banker & Tradesman. "I think it’s a very healthy thing."
Only Cape Cod and Islands MLS members will be able to search the rental listings, which will include both year-round and summer residential listings and commercial listings.
"We’re excited about it because this is obviously another benefit for our membership, and there has been a real need for it," said Witter. "We are a second-home market, but also there’s been a much greater need for year-round rentals, with the whole economy the way it is right now. And we want to expose sellers, too, who are putting properties up for rent, if they haven’t sold. So it’s a way of giving landlords and sellers more exposure, and also helping out the agents finding things that might be available."
Brian Larson, a Minneapolis-based lawyer and consultant who specializes in advising multiple listing services, said that he’s noticed a jump in interest over the past few years among his clientele in adding rentals, especially among MLSs that serve areas dominated by the second-home market.
"The [MLSs] doing rentals, most are resort communities," Larson said. "The Realtors in those markets, it doesn’t make sense for them to [restrict themselves] to selling homes if there’s opportunities for them to make money on rentals as well."
Sandy Carroll, CEO of the Berkshire County Board of Realtors, said that while that group’s MLS has listings for commercial leases, it has no plans to move into the residential rental sector, despite the plethora of vacation homes in some parts of the county.
"Our MLS has considered the issue before, but haven’t had the ground swell of interest from the membership," Carroll said, especially since there’s already a Rental Housing Association of Berkshire County, which has a public-facing site where landlords can post listings.
